HisMarriageBargain

by Sidney Bristol

  He couldn’t make out the full design, but it was predominantly black with little hints of color.

  “Tell me when it’s over.” Sammi shut his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the chair.

  Just a few more minutes, he chanted.

  The minutes dragged on, but at least the pain in his arm was something he could identify and explain. The rest of him was a mystery. Some days he felt fine, others were agony. He didn’t know if life was worth living this way, except then he’d see Autumn.

  Sammi peered at her from the corner of his eye. She wore her glasses, her lip caught between her teeth, totally concentrated on him.

  If she could go on, so could he. For a little while longer.

  “All done,” she proclaimed.

  “Finally.”

  “Don’t move yet.” She laid the machine down on the TV tray she’d set up as her work station and proceeded to clean up the tattoo, wiping away excess ink and blood. “Okay, go take a look.”

  Sammi pushed out of the chair and headed for the master suite, Autumn close on his heels. He stepped into the bathroom and froze, standing sideways so he could get the full impact of the tattoo. Autumn wrapped her arms around his waist, cheek against his shoulder, smiling.

  “Wow.” He twisted his arm a little to see how far the ink went on either side.

  Instead of being outlined and filled in, the tattoo was a negative design. A blacked-out sky was dotted with stars, which were either flesh-toned or shaded with a slight color. Below the sky, a field dotted with bushes and a few trees was the backdrop for two cartoon-like people with their heads tipped back, gazing up at a Star of David done in multicolored glory.

  There was a sense of wonder to it. Autumn had captured his preference for black and gray and melded it with her color work. It was infused with her spirit and his foundation. A conjoining of who they were.

  “Do you like it?” Autumn asked.

  Sammi turned and gathered her against his chest.

  “I love it.” Not only had she taken the challenge for a color tattoo to a creative place, she’d given a nod to his spirituality as well. It tugged at something deep within him.

  She grinned and lifted up on her toes. He met her halfway, taking her mouth in a kiss, stealing her breath.

  If only they could have many more nights together.

  * * * * *

  Autumn turned the stereo down and listened to the sounds in the house. She’d grown accustomed to the way it shifted and settled depending on the time of day, but there was no mistaking the closing and opening of a door.

  “Sammi?” she called out.

  Footsteps creaked coming toward her newly christened studio accompanied by a whirling sound that was out of place in the house.

  “Not quite,” Pandora called out.

  Autumn backed up until she could see out the doorway, through the laundry room and into the kitchen where Carly and Pandora were headed toward her, bags of fast food and drinks in hand.

  “Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?” Autumn met them halfway, hugging Carly’s shoulders followed by Pandora.

  “Hey, Sunshine, I’m headed into the office.” Sammi exited their bedroom and grabbed his keys from the table next to his recliner.

  “How did you guys—” Autumn glanced from her two friends to Sammi’s grinning face. She pointed at the guilty man. “You!”

  Sammi circled the bar, enveloped her in a hug and kissed her temple. “I just answered your phone while you were in the shower. Thought you might like to see your friends.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered for his ears alone.

  “You girls have fun. I’ll be back a little later tonight.” He buzzed her lips with a quick kiss and patted her ass.

  “Go, you’re late.” Autumn shooed him out of the kitchen, laughing at his antics.

  How had he known? God, the man didn’t even mean to be wonderful and he still hit the mark.

  Autumn pivoted to her two friends, quietly watching her with Cheshire grins of their own.

  “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re here.” Autumn bounced on her toes.

  “Come here already.” Pandora snapped her fingers.

  Autumn didn’t have to be asked twice. She took a single bound and jumped on her friend, wrapping her legs around Pandora’s waist and squealing. Pandora laughed and spun her in a circle.

  “You’re here,” Autumn chanted.

  She’d always been a social creature and the self-imposed hermitage followed by not having anyplace to be or anyone to see had slowly stolen a bit of her joy.

  “Not for very long,” Pandora muttered into Autumn’s hair.

  Autumn uncoiled herself from around Pandora and stood on her own feet.

  “Yeah, we’re really only here on a long lunch,” Carly added, pushing her hair behind her ear.

  “I don’t care.” Autumn plopped down on Carly’s lap and hugged the other girl tight. “You’re here!”

  “And we brought food. Why don’t you give us a quick tour and we can eat?” Pandora suggested.

  “I’m starving.” Carly grinned and wheeled them into the den with its comfortable furnishings.

  Autumn was a happy passenger, even surprised by how much she wanted to show off the house. “Okay, den-slash-living-room-we-actually-use.”

  She got to her feet and went to the windows that spanned the back of the room. “This still needs work, but it’s Sammi’s baby, so I just pretend I get to use it.” With a flick of a switch the curtain whisked aside, albeit on a slow track, to reveal the patio, which would be a man-haven come fall, with a spot for a built-in grill that had to be installed, and a large river stone area for entertaining.

  “Wow,” the girls said in unison.

  “You guys don’t know the half of it. This place is crazy cool and over the top.” She showed them each room, from their bedroom to the walk-in closet and the bathroom with the shower big enough for all three of them plus elbow room, to the yet-to-be-furnished bedrooms and more formal receiving areas of the house. They ended in Autumn’s under-construction tattoo studio.

  “I’m just setting up the necessities today because I have a tattoo to do tomorrow and Sammi wants me to do one on him before that one. Sammi said he was cool with me painting and doing whatever in here, so I was thinking full murals on this wall and mirrors on that.” She stood back and imagined how cool it would be, all in bright colors, new-school style and uniquely hers.

  “Do you think you’re going to set up to work here permanently?” Pandora asked, hands on her hips, surveying the room.

  Autumn chewed her lip.

  “What is it?” Carly asked, studying her.

  Autumn sighed and sat on the tattoo table. “Truth?”

  “Well, yeah.” Pandora leaned against the folding table that held Autumn’s tattoo equipment for the time being.

  “Okay.” Autumn rubbed her face. “Sammi’s pretty sick. He doesn’t want people to know, but it looks like he’s going to get worse and after thinking it through, being able to be with him and still work is the best choice.”

  Carly and Pandora stared at her.

  “It makes sense now,” Pandora said after a moment. “The rushed wedding, all of this. He knew he was sick, didn’t he?”

  Autumn nodded, feeling wretched for letting part of the secret out and for lying about the truth of his condition.

  “What does he have?” Carly asked.

  Autumn shook her head. “I’m not even supposed to tell anyone he’s sick.”

  It was clear both women wanted to ask her more questions, but with the ambiguous line in the sand, none of them, Autumn included, knew what they could talk about.

  “So, food?” Autumn asked with a grin.

  They retreated to the kitchen and took the food into the den, where Pandora and Autumn sat on the floor around the coffee table with Carly.

  “How’s the shop?” Autumn asked after they’d all had a little to eat.

  “About the same,
” Carly replied. “I’ve called most of your appointments for the next few weeks and told them the deal. Gave them your phone number.”

  Autumn nodded but couldn’t find it in herself to be too concerned about work. She’d texted with a few, but wouldn’t be able to nail down plans until the space was ready.

  “Mary’s been a little more together the last few days. I guess whatever drama there was with Sam, excuse me, Jesus, has blown over.” Pandora rolled her eyes. “What about you? How are you? All I get are a few texts every now and then. How do you like being married?”

  Autumn sipped her drink and rolled the question around in her head. “I don’t know. I guess I thought we’d get married and it would be this fun, exciting adventure we did together. It’s pretty mundane, a lot of compromising and figuring stuff out. Guess it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

  “Do you regret it?” Carly asked.

  Autumn shook her head. “No. Not at all. I’d do it differently if I could go back and change how it happened, but I’d still get married.”

  Pandora smiled, a happy sigh escaping her lips. “You guys are so cute together. I still can’t believe we never saw it coming.”

  “Yeah, you two are total jerks for keeping all this a secret.” Carly threw a crumpled-up napkin at her.

  Pandora’s phone started flashing and vibrating on the coffee table. She picked it up and groaned. “We have to get going.”

  “Already?” Carly whined.

  Pandora glanced up from her phone. “Yeah, I have a one thirty, remember?”

  “Oh, that wanker.” Carly rolled her eyes.

  “Who?” Autumn asked. How was she already out of the loop? It felt so wrong not being part of the So Inked team anymore.

  “Remember that really creepy guy that wants eyeballs on the backs of his shoulders?” Pandora wrinkled her nose.

  Autumn shuddered. “Oh god, I could have done without remembering that guy. Should I take your keys and hold you hostage?”

  “Nah, I have a wedding to pay for, remember?” Pandora gathered her trash.

  “Man, we didn’t even talk about that! We’ve got to catch up and you need to tell me all about your wedding plans. Here, I’ll pick up the trash. You two get going and promise me I’ll see you soon?” Autumn crumpled the bags together into a ball.

  “You bet your ass we will.” Carly grinned.

  “Awesome.” Autumn rose up on her knees and hugged Carly. “Thank you guys for coming to see me. I needed this.”

  “Hey, we needed to see you. You’re like a happy drug or something.” Carly squeezed her back.

  They said their goodbyes, with several hugs interspersed before Autumn finally closed the front door, only to be left in the silent house on her own again. She rubbed her hands on her thighs, clinging mentally to the joy her friends brought her.

  Autumn took a deep breath and headed back into the living room to finish picking up the trash. She didn’t have time to mope about being home alone. There was a tattoo station to set up, sketches to finish and dinner to make later. It was a full afternoon ahead of her.

  She turned on the stereo, picked a playlist of songs and got to work in the studio. The rest of the furniture was easy to set up, mostly plastic storage pieces that were quick and easy to get for the time being. If Sammi had his way she would be redoing the whole room in a few weeks with custom cabinetry and metal fixtures. For now she was happy to stow all her machines, ink and necessary stuff in designated bins.

  Cleanliness had never been one of her strong points, but she was growing fond of the idea of everything in its place. Maybe it was a little piece of Sammi rubbing off on her finally.

  The music paused and a phone rang over the loudspeaker.

  Autumn jumped and listened for the ring again.

  “What the heck?” she muttered.

  She walked through the kitchen, looking for a phone. Nothing in the den. She didn’t need to look in the bedroom. Finally she poked her head in the office as the phone went to voice mail. A cordless phone sat on the edge of the desk. She couldn’t remember it having been there before, but it made sense to have a landline, though she’d have to talk to Sammi about it ringing over the speakers. Talk about freaky.

  The machine beeped and Sammi’s voice rattled off a message.

  Autumn turned to head back to the studio when a voice from her nightmares froze her in place.

  “Samuel, you forgot your cell phone here during lunch. I’ll be out tonight, but if you want to pick it up I’ll leave it in the study. Otherwise, I’ll see you for lunch tomorrow.”

  Autumn turned to face the office doors.

  Sammi was at his doctor’s office.

  He had a twelve thirty appointment.

  He wouldn’t lie to her, would he?

  Autumn crept closer to the desk, and even though she knew better, she pressed Play.

  The message was the same as before.

  Sammi had lied to her. Had he?

  She paced through the house, ending up in the studio with her phone in hand, pressing Dial on Sammi’s office.

  The line rang twice before a cheerful female voice answered.

  “Sammi, please. It’s his wife,” she said before the woman had finished.

  “One moment please.”

  A recording about the best customer satisfaction, yadda yadda yadda, all said in Sammi’s voice only stoked her ire higher.

  “Hey, Sunshine—”

  “What did the doctor say today?”

  “Uh, nothing really. Why?”

  Autumn bit the inside of her cheek.

  “Autumn?”

  “Your mother called and wanted you to know you left your cell phone at her place, and if you don’t have time to pick it up, that’s okay, you can get it tomorrow at lunch.” Her vision slowly hazed red. He’d lied to her, probably more than once.

  “Shit. Autumn, I can explain.”

  “I don’t want an explanation. I want to know how many times you’ve lied to me. How many times, Sammi?”

  “Look, Mom and I have always had lunch a couple times a week since Dad died. She’s all alone—”

  “I don’t care if you spend time with her. I don’t like her and she doesn’t like me. What I can’t stand is you lying to me. Lying to my face. I can’t even talk to you right now. Fuck you.” She hung up the phone, shaking her fists she was so angry.

  Autumn paced back and forth. Her phone rang but she didn’t even look at it. There was nothing Sammi could say right now that would change the truth.

  He’d lied to her.

  She couldn’t stay in the house another minute. She grabbed her things and headed outside, no plan in mind except to get out.

  The old Buick rumbled to life. She headed out of the subdivision and began driving aimlessly.

  What did she do now?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Watercolor—Tattoos that emulate the style of watercolor paintings on flesh.

  Autumn flopped on the secondhand couch. “Thanks for having me over.”

  Carly stopped next to a table with the remnants of dinner on it. “Hey, that’s what friends are for. What’s up?”

  She blew out a breath, not sure where to start. “Being married sucks sometimes.”

  “Wouldn’t surprise me.”

  Autumn didn’t want to think about Sammi right now. How he’d lied to her. Blatantly. “How are you? Let’s talk about you.”

  Carly shrugged. “I’m going to give up tattooing.”

  “What?” Autumn sat up straight and gaped at the young woman, her short hair pointing in every direction, making her look like an errant pixie.

  Carly shrugged. “I suck. What else is there to say?”

  “But that’s all you’ve been talking about for the last year,” Autumn blurted. Ever since her accident and getting back on her feet—or wheels as it were—Carly had wanted to learn to tattoo to have a chance to be self-sufficient, not just to live on disability.

  “Yeah, but no one
is going to let me tattoo them. I’m really not any good.”

  “No, you are.”

  Carly’s eyes grew large and she drew out her words, as if the extra emphasis would win her over. “Autumn, I’m bad. Really, really bad.”

  “Prove it to me. Tattoo me.”

  “What?” Carly gaped at her.

  “Seriously, you never really know if you aren’t any good unless you try.” Some people were good artists but couldn’t tattoo to save their lives. The canvas of skin had to speak to you like any other medium. Carly had been tracing and sketching for months, but when pushed to tattoo a real live person, she’d balked.

  “No way.”

  “Yes. Do you have a machine here?” Autumn glanced around the sparse furnishings.

  “One of Mary’s old ones, but I’m not tattooing you.”

  Autumn pushed to her feet and strode into the bedroom nook. Everything was neatly organized, which made the tattoo kit sitting on the top of one of the two dressers stick out like a sore thumb. She grabbed the tray it was sitting on and brought it back to the living room where Carly looked as if she was about to be sick.

  “I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Carly insisted.

  “Sure it is.” Autumn cleared off Carly’s dinner and set the machine up on the small table.

  “But there’s no way it’ll be as good as your other ink,” Carly continued to protest.

  “Everyone has to do a shitty tattoo. Once, I gave a pin-up six fingers and crossed eyes. If it’s bad, I’m your friend and I won’t kill you.” Autumn plugged the power source in and plopped back down on the couch.

  Carly stared at the worn machine, her lip pinched between her teeth. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” It was just ink. The memories, what they shared together would be more important than one crappy tattoo, and because Carly did it, Autumn would love it.

  “Okay.” Carly blew out a breath, her brows drawn down into a line. “What do you want me to do?”

  Autumn considered her available real estate. When it came to bare skin, she didn’t have a lot to work with. Her arms were covered, she didn’t want anything on her chest or stomach and she couldn’t decide on what she wanted below her knees. What she needed was a little spot.